Gawker Lawyers Up in SF to Fight Found iPhone Case

Gawker has hired Tom Burke — a first amendment specialist from Davis Wright & Tremaine in SF — to work on the case. The blog takes the position that Jason Chen, the editor who got a hold of the iPhone, is protected by journalist shield laws. Gawker COO Gaby Darbyshire had this to say on her Twitter feed today:

“We raised our objections over the weekend and met in person with the authorities today. They're reviewing the shield law issue.”

Just in case you’ve been living under a rock, one of Gawker’s blogs, Gizmodo, posted a bunch of stuff last week about the next-generation iPhone that it bought for $5,000 from someone who “found” it at a bar in Redwood City.

Gizmodo gave it back to Apple. But as the search warrant shows, San Mateo authorities aren’t done investigating.